Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Emma Bryer  01267 224029

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillor A.L. Fox.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTERESTS INCLUDING ANY PARTY WHIPS ISSUED IN RELATION TO ANY AGENDA ITEM.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of personal interest or of any prohibited party whips.

 

3.

PUBLIC QUESTIONS (NONE RECEIVED)

Minutes:

The Chair advised that no public questions had been received.

4.

ORDER OF BUSINESS

Minutes:

The Chair advised the Committee that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2(3) she was going to vary the order of business on the agenda to enable the Adult Social Care Complaints & Compliments Report to be considered later in the meeting.

5.

REVENUE & CAPITAL BUDGET MONITORING REPORT 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 148 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report in relation to the Social Care and Health Service, which provided an update on the latest budgetary position as at 28th February, 2019 in respect of the 2018/19 financial year.

 

The Social Care & Health Service was projecting an overspend of £760K on the revenue budget and net variance of -£64K against the 2018/19 approved capital budget.

 

The following questions / observations were raised on the report:

 

Appendix C

 

·         Concern was raised that there would be a significant overspend if it wasn’t for staff vacancies.

 

The Committee was advised that there would be additional pressure on finances if fully resourced but this would always be the case due to turnover in staff.

 

·         Officers were asked if recruitment was in progress for the maternity cover of the Rehabilitation Officer post (Older People Commissioning).

 

Officer advised that they did not have the information to hand but would advise the Committee following the meeting.

 

·         Concern was expressed regarding the vacant Social Worker posts in the Community Resource Team.  It was stated that the question had been asked several times by the Committee but no response received.

 

The Executive Board Member advised that a formal position statement would be provided via the Head of Service prior to the next Scrutiny meeting.

 

Appendix E

 

·         A Question was asked in relation to why there was a delay in learning Disabilities Accommodation Development projects.

 

Committee was advised that the project was delayed as it was being funded from the Integrated Care Fund and that funding would be confirmed imminently.

 

·         Officers were asked for the reason why Cartref Cynnes was still detailed in the Budget Monitoring Report.

 

Committee was advised that this was likely due to capital charges being applied.

 

Appendix F

 

·         Question was asked if the saving detailed in Appendix F was in relation to the outcomes of the TIC review.

 

Committee was advised the report shows progress against the proposed efficiencies set annually during the budget process.

 

RESOLVED that the report be received.

6.

ADULT SOCIAL CARE COMPLAINTS & COMPLIMENTS REPORT 1ST APRIL 2018 TO 31ST MARCH 2019 pdf icon PDF 165 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report detailing the Adult Social Care complaints and compliments received for the 2018/19 financial year.  The report summarised the number of complaints and compliments received and provided information on the type of complaint and the service area relating to complaints and compliments.

 

The Committee was advised to note the number of compliments received and mention was given to Mark Bryan who had been commended for service excellence in supporting complainants through the complaints process.

 

A number of questions were raised, the main matters were as follows:

 

·         Question was asked if complaints regarding private companies were included within the report and if patterns of complaints could be evidenced.

 

The Interim Head of Integrated Services advised the information is collected for all of Social Care including services provided by private companies.  It was possible to see trends and patterns of complaints and that these were often managed via contract monitoring and intervention by the Commissioning and Contract team.  The Committee was advised that complaints are also monitored by various other means such as speaking to service users, care providers, surveys and forums.

 

·         Clarification was sought on what the additional 60 complaints were in relation to, as detailed in the complaints summary.

 

The Committee was informed that these included issues raised and re-directed to more appropriate areas and also included advice cases.  It was stated that “enquiries” would be a more appropriate term to use instead of complaints.

 

·         Complaint was raised regarding the call waiting time for Delta Wellbeing.

 

The Interim Head of Integrated Services advised that performance data evidenced that Delta Wellbeing had a high percentage response rate but that he would feed the complaint back to Delta Wellbeing.

 

·         Clarification was requested on what the definition of a complaint was.

 

The Interim Head of Integrated Services informed the Committee that a complaint was an expression of dissatisfaction and that staff were encouraged to log all expressions of dissatisfaction.

 

·         Reference was made to the low number of complaints received in comparison to the high volume service users and that this may be due to a reticence to raise complaints due to potential impact on care.  

 

The Interim Head of Integrated Services agreed that the numbers were low and that while information is captured via survey responses there was an opportunity to enhance the survey for complaints capturing.

 

·         Concerns were raised regarding carers not turning up and that perhaps the Authority was not aware of missed visits.

 

The Interim Head of Integrated Services assured the Committee that tolerances and systems were in place to monitor and manage missed visits, however there was a reliance on all parties to advise the Authority.

 

·         Question was asked if the Independent Officers who investigate Stage 2 complaints were independent from the Authority.

 

The Committee was advised that the Stage 2 Investigation Officers were independent of the Authority.

 

RESOLVED that the report be received.

7.

EXPLANATION FOR NON-SUBMISSION OF SCRUTINY REPORT pdf icon PDF 42 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received an explanation for the non-submission of the following scrutiny reports.

 

·         Review of Intermediate Care

·         Update on Continuing Care / NHS Summit.

 

RESOLVED that the explanation for the non-submission be noted.

 

8.

FORTHCOMING ITEMS pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the list of forthcoming items to be considered at the next scheduled meeting on the 3rd July, 2019 be noted.

9.

TO SIGN AS A CORRECT RECORD THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON THE 17TH APRIL, 2019 pdf icon PDF 266 KB

Minutes:

UNANAMOUSLY RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 17th April, 2019 be signed as a correct record.

 

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